By As so often happens with radicals who win an elected office, a Boston City Councilor has been indicted on federal corruption charges, accused of orchestrating a scheme to siphon taxpayer funds through a kickback arrangement.
Tania Fernandes Anderson first made the news when she said she aimed to “dismantle the White backdrop” in America and “create a revolution.”
The revolution “will be about equity and I hope we don’t have too many disagreements in there,” she said in an interview in December 2021. “I think that systemic racism is long overdue for us to overthrow it in order for us to create a revolution that brings about change.”
Since then, Fox News noted, “Fernandes Anderson has become known for her public outbursts featuring ‘swearing, yelling and screaming’ at public city council meetings, according to the source.”
Now, her revolution will have to wait.
According to the Department of Justice, Fernandes Anderson faces one count of theft involving federal program funds and five counts of wire fraud, with the potential for decades-long prison sentences if convicted.
The Daily Caller reports that prosecutors allege that Fernandes Anderson, facing financial challenges last year following a state ethics commission’s decision to fine her $5,000 for violating a conflict of interest law, conspired with an unnamed relative on her staff in an alleged bonus kickback scheme to defraud the city of Boston. Fernandes Anderson allegedly paid her relative a $13,000 bonus — more than twice as large as the bonuses given to all of her other staff combined — who then slipped $7,000 in cash of that bonus to Fernandes Anderson during a secret exchange in a city hall bathroom on June 9, 2023, according to the DOJ’s indictment.
“Using public office for personal gain is a crime. Her behavior, as alleged in today’s indictment, is a slap in the face to the hardworking taxpayers in the city of Boston who have every right to expect that the city’s funds are in good and honest hands,” Jodi Cohen, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, said in a press release following Fernandes Anderson’s arrest. “This case illustrates how the FBI, and our partners are working hard every day to battle public corruption and the corrosive damage it does to people’s faith in government.”
Each count of wire fraud carries a maximum 20 year prison sentence and the count for “theft concerning programs receiving federal funds” provides for a maximum sentence of 10 years, according to the press release.
Fernandes Anderson, who moved with her family to the United States as an undocumented immigrant from the African country of Cape Verde when she was ten years old, frequently courted controversy while serving on the Boston City Council. Less than two weeks after Hamas’ invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, she compared Israeli soldiers to “political animals.”
BREAKING: @BOSCityCouncil member Tania Fernandes Anderson (D) was just arrested by the FBI for operating an alleged kickback scheme netting her thousands in stolen taxpayer dollars.
She faces 5 federal counts of wire fraud and one federal count of theft concerning programs… https://t.co/vaIZA0F2ab pic.twitter.com/YbkckrmOyE
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 6, 2024
This development has drawn sharp criticism, with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu calling for Fernandes Anderson’s resignation. While acknowledging her right to a fair legal process, Wu emphasized that the gravity of the charges compromises her ability to serve effectively. Fernandes Anderson’s tenure has been marked by controversy, including prior violations of city ethics rules, public disputes during council meetings, and inflammatory comments on international issues.
“Like any member of the community, Councilor Fernandes Anderson has the right to a fair legal process,” Wu said in a statement shared with Boston 25 News. “But the serious nature of these charges undermines the public trust and will prevent her from effectively serving the city. I urge Councilor Fernandes Anderson to resign.”
The Boston Globe reported that Fernandes Anderson, who has long pushed more leftist policies in the city, “immigrated from Cape Verde when she was 10 years old to live with her mother in Boston, who had come to the city six years earlier. She had never been on a plane before flying to the United States, and only spoke Cape Verdean Creole and Portuguese.
She said she faced racism at school and struggled with complications related to her undocumented immigrant status. When Fernandes Anderson was 15, her mother went back to Cape Verde with two of Fernandes Anderson’s siblings.”
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